Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Systematics Journal Entry #11

This assigned reading was a little different. Instead of selections out of one of our texts, we read sections of “God Ordained This War:” Sermons on the Sectional Crisis, edited by David B. Chesebrough. These sermons were preached in the mid-19th century, on the subject of slavery, and the selected portions in our reading reflect both pro-slavery and anti-slavery positions.

I found myself, after an initial rough start, resonating somewhat with Theodore Parker’s approach to the issue. Initially this was a bit of a struggle, as his style is rather pedantic; it felt more like a lecture than a homily to my 20th century ears. Additionally, I did have difficulty with some of his viewpoints: his emphasis on personal conscience, for example, over and against the larger body of Christ; or his justification of violence as defense against violence. However, his structure was easy to follow, and built logically, and you will not be surprised to hear that I did like his argument for considering themes within the whole of scripture as the basis for living out one’s “duty as a man,” rather than selected texts used to support one’s preferred position. Some of that may become a source for my paper!